"I want to prove that women can be strong and win this competition." -- Ada

Let's face it: The female contestants have been getting their you-know-what's kicked. There are only four women left at the ranch, and they have been consistently losing less weight than the guys. The ladies are discouraged, Jillian isn't happy, and I bet that, like me, a lot of female viewers are frustrated, too.

This begs the age-old question: Why can guys drop weight so quickly (Frado lost 18 pounds this week!) while women toil on the treadmill without seeing major results? The short answer is that men have more lean body mass than women, which can speed up metabolism, translating to faster weight loss. But this doesn’t mean that women can’t lose big–and the females were determined to prove that this week.

The contestants were competing in teams of two. At the end of the week, one duo would be eliminated. Since Brendan won the temptation challenge, he earned the privilege of choosing the duos. He paired up Elizabeth with Lisa and Ada with Jessica.

Ada was practically heartbroken that her friend Brendan ignored her wish to be paired with one of the guys. She was convinced that Jessica, who has not put up big numbers in the past, would send her home. Jillian encouraged her to quit worrying about something she couldn’t control and focus on working as hard as possible in the gym.

All of the women took this advice to heart. They buckled down, tackled grueling weight workouts, and it paid off: Lisa and Elizabeth both lost the most they ever have (8 pounds each), Ada dropped 6 pounds and Jessica shed 12 pounds! Two guys, Aaron and Jesse, were sent home.

The women proved that they could keep up with the boys and be a major threat. Their triumph was refreshing!

The takeaway for you: Sure, the scale might be a little kinder to your guy, but don’t lose heart. Instead, take some hints from how men work out so you can lose like a guy, too.

- Strength train, strength train, strength train! We seriously can’t say it enough. Only about 17 percent of women pump iron, but it helps build the lean muscle you need to rev up your metabolism and fire up your fat burn, making it a weight-loss must.

- Men tend to set actionable goals like ‘I’ll do 10 more bicep curls today,’ and this can help them be more successful. Focus on quantifiable numbers rather than long-term thinking like, ‘I want sexier arms.’

- Tap into your competitive streak. Ego is a powerful motivator, so challenge a pal to a game of tennis or a race in the pool, and give it your all. When you win, celebrate (without rubbing it in too much, of course).